Local News

Leaking natural gas well near Sterling prompts evacuations

Well is at East Cheyenne Gas Storage facility, in far northeastern Colorado

By John Ingold

The Denver Post

Posted:
05/26/2017 12:51:31 PM MDT

A leaking natural gas well in far northeastern Colorado has prompted evacuations that could stretch into the weekend.

Kyle Moulton, the emergency manager for Logan County, said the leak started around 5:30 p.m. Thursday when a well at the East Cheyenne Gas Storage facility, which is near the town of Peetz, suffered a blowout. There was no explosion or fire associated with the blowout, Moulton said, and no one was injured in the incident.

But the growing plume of natural gas forced authorities to order evacuations for a two-mile radius around the facility. The evacuation order affected about 25 people, Moulton said.

Moulton said responders, so far, have focused on securing the perimeter around the facility. He said a team was preparing Friday afternoon to move in on the well and begin the process of shutting it down. Lavon Ritter, the fire chief in nearby Sterling, said he heard from his personnel at the scene that the well may not be capped until Saturday.

The East Cheyenne Gas Storage facility is owned by Midstream Energy Holdings and is located near two major pipelines. The company says the facility, "has been designed and built to offer services to utilities, power generators, pipelines, producers and marketers that require storage to meet gas demand peaks that exceed production and long-haul pipeline throughput."

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The blowout at the facility occurred on the same day that an explosion at an oil tank battery owned by Anadarko killed one worker and injured three more near the Weld County town of Mead.

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